Saturday, August 28, 2010

Kevin Durant of the United States dunks during a friendly basketball game against Spain in Madrid on Sunday, Aug. 22, 2010. Durant will lead the USA against Croatia in the opening round of the FIBA World Championship Saturday (AP Photo/Arturo Rodriguez).

The Pittsburgh Pirates haven’t had a winning season since 1992, but recently-leaked financial documents show that hasn’t stopped the team from turning their cut from the MLB’s revenue sharing system into profits. Bill talks to USA Today baseball writer Gabe Lacques to analyze the impact the revelation will have on baseball’s finances.

The USA men’s basketball team will begin play in the World Championships this weekend. As this year’s batch of players try to take their place beside legendary American teams of the past, Only A Game’s Doug Tribou visits a new exhibit at the Basketball Hall of Fame and talks to some all-time greats to look back at iconic moments in USA basketball history.

Mixed Martial Arts was once a fringe sport that promised “no rules” fights. Now, UFC matches sell out arenas all over the world and bring in hundreds of thousands of pay-per-view subscribers. Bill speaks with Ron Borges of the Boston Herald about the sport’s astonishing transformation.

Think running a 5K road race is difficult? Try finishing it while jumping over flames and crawling under barbed wire…in a tutu. It may sound crazy, but hundreds of costumed contestants across the country accept the challenge to take on the Warrior Dash. Only A Game’s Kim Green reports from the Dash’s southeast race in the mountains of Georgia. Click here to check out Kim’s photo gallery from the race. Click here to check out Kim’s photo gallery from the event.

Bill responds to questions and comments from listeners in Only A Game’s electronic mailbag.

Bengals Wide Receiver Chad Ochocinco was fined for tweeting during a game last week. While Roger Goodell may think Ochocinco’s actions were inappropriate, Charlie Pierce believes the NFL missed a golden opportunity to modernize the game. He’ll discuss this and the rest of the week’s sports news with Bill.

Bill speaks with Professor Charles Martin, author of Benching Jim Crow. In the book, Martin describes how northern colleges chose to comply with the “gentlemen’s agreement” that maintained segregated conditions in southern college sports.

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